Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-07-22
CAPT. DURHAM.
The Comm ander Of the Gen. Barnard
severely Hauled Over the Goals by
River Captain and a Quincy Paper

y
River Captain and a Quincy Paper
Capt. c. W. Durham, of this city,
commander of the government snag boat
Gen Barnard hos been subjected to a
severe attack from the Quincy Wing and
as that paper has been prompted. as 1t
would appear from the criticism which
appended, wholly by one of the st. Louis
and ST. Paul packet company's captains,
because of damage suffered BY that CONS
pany's boats. it must be uncalled for. If
there is snag or sandbar in the river
the Saints lines steamers will find it. and
Captain Durham's past record for eff
cheney and prompt attention to duty is
such as to lead one acquainted with him
to believe be has been abused without
reason. The article from the Wing is as
follows:
Much complaint has been made by
steamboat men of the manner in which |
the government officials having the work |
in charge have neglected to take adequate |
measures to lessen the dangers and Tiff |
culties OF river navigation at the present |
low stage of water. In conversation |
with Capt. George Davis. of the steamer
Gem City, Yesterday, that officer made |
statements which would indicate culp |
able lack of attention to duty by Capt.
Durham of the Gen Barnard, and Capt |
Ruffher. the officer having charge of the
| river improvement in this district. The
| commander of the Gem City produced Il |
letter which he had VT item to Capt
| Durham while the Gen. Barnard was
some distance down the river, calling
| attention To several snags and 0bstrnc
| lions in the channel. IDLY one at q
| point known as Whi,ney's bend, be-
| tween Hannibal and Marion City. where
"A big stump has for some time been q
menace to pilots and a source If cJnsId
cradle danger. The War Eagle on her
down trip last week, struck this snag,
damaging her timbers to such an extent
that she is now on the WAYS undergoing
repairs. Capt Davis also produced the
reply of Capt. Durham, stating that the
request had been received too late to en-
able him to do anything looking to the
removal of the obstruction complained
of In view of the fact that Capt Dur,
ham received this letter at point some
distance below, and that he afterward
passed Whitney's bend without making
an effort to remove this snag it is some~
what difficult to imagine how he is justi
fed in refusing to comply with the re-
quest. not only of Capt. Davis. but OF
every steamboat man on the upper river.
Capt. Durham's attention has also been
called to several other snags, especially
one at Squaw Island. just above Grafton.
and another at Thomas shoot near Ham
burg, but no measures were taken to clear
the channel.
:, Another fact of which steamboat men
compl lin, and Justly, too. is that the
dredge boat and entire government feet
is allowed to lie idle in the harbor here
! while the bars are encOaching upon the
channel to such an extent that it is al
most impossible TO get over them. The
most CONSPICUOUS instance of this kind is
at point between here and Hannibal.
, where there is bar about 800 feet
long, over which there is only four feet
of water, with deep water above and he
low it, and which, it is claimed the dredge
could, with twelve hours work, so open
5 that the current would soon cut channel
through it. A similar place exists just
, below La Grange. The last sppropria-
ton for river improvements has not yet
been exhausted, and the steamboat mer
blame Captains Ruffner and Durham fol-
allowing the dredge and snag boats tc
lie in harbor while these obstruction
exist. but it may be that the responsibility
rests upon higher shoulders.
The above was shown to Mai. McKen
zie this morning, and while the article il
no way reflects upon that official as chic
of the engineer service, it displeased hin
very much, and be said he believed 1t al
unjust and unwarranted attack upor
l Capt Durham, which had appearances Of
being prompted by righteousness, though
: he did not know for what reason. L
i anything had been neglected in the Mis-
sissippi river near Quincy. it was not tht
fault of the Barnard Capt. Upton, thu
pilot on the Barnard, and one of the bes
river men on the Mississippi, had Away
been careful to look out for snags. ant
Capt. Durham hal removed all tina
+ could be found, but the Barnard coult
not be kept running over one particula
section of the river constantly. Maj
Mckenzie said that Capt Davis, of tn
Gem City had often been requested b,
j. himself and by Capt. Durham to furnish
= a list of all snags in the river in orde
that they might be removed. but his re
quest had seldom, if ever, been csmplie
with. Maj. Mckenzie has sent cop,
: of the paper from which the above is ex
tracted to Capt. Durham at Fountai
L City. requesting his views of the matte
Il and a reply will probably be received tn
l Last of hf